FOFC Movie ReMake Challenge: And the winner is...

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

GHOSTBUSTERS wade moore original Produced by JOSS WHEDON Directed by JON FAVREAU Budget: $130 MILLION PAUL RUDD as Dr. Peter Venkman PATTON OSWALT as Dr. Ray Stantz RICHARD AYOADE as Dr. Egon Spangler MILA KUNIS as Janine Melnitz TIFFANI AMBER THIESSEN as Dana Barrett Will be modernized, a little more realistic, but still fairly campy - definitely not gritty. These will NOT be simply imitations of the old characters. They'll fill similar roles, but put their own personalities into the characters. Score and Musical Arrangement by HANS ZIMMER

LOGAN'S RUN JediKooter original Produced by JOEL SILVER Directed by JJ ABRAMS Budget: $250+ MILLION JAMES FRANCO as Logan 5 OLIVIA WILDE as Jessica 6 MARK RUFFALO as Francis 7 GARY OLDMAN as The Old Man Special Effects for this Film created by ILM The movie is remake of the 1976 movie as opposed to a true translation of the book. With special effects done by ILM to bring the dystopian world to life, JJ Abrams brings his success from the reboot of the Star Trek franchise in partnership with long time successful producer, Joel Silver. Setting the tone of the movie is two time Oscar winning composer Alan Silvestri. The ages of the actors are roughly the same ages as the original cast members from the 1976 version of the film and look like they can portray a person in their mid to late 20s. Gary Oldman plays the character that Logan and Jessica meet after they leave the domed city. Score and Musical Arrangement by ALAN SILVESTRI

SCARFACE stevew original Produced by OLIVER STONE Directed by DAVID FINCHER Budget: $60 MILLION DENZEL WASHINGTON as Tony WILL SMITH as Danny SCARLETT JOHANSSON as Elvira MEL GIBSON as Frank This Movie Features FULL FRONTAL NUDITY from SCARLETT JOHNASSON The heart of the story....one man's rise from nothing to the top of an empire will stay. As will the eventual conflict between Tony(Denzel) and his boss Frank(Gibson) over control of the Drug/Music empire and Elvira(Johannson) The setting is the early 1990s in Los Angeles. Tony and Danny(Will Smith) are South African political prisoners, given refuge in America near the end of Apartheid. Tony is originally hired as muscle by Frank to oversee a crack deal gone bad. One of Tony's friends is burnt to death by an aceteline torch. Tony saves the day. (Wildcard)Tony encounters the lovely Elvira as she is skinny dipping in Frank's pool. Frank is a small time music producer, and a big time crack dealer Frank is murdered by Tony's crew in a style familiar to the residents of Brentwood. Tony gains power and control of the emerging LA Hip Hop scene, much like Suge Knight. Similar anecdotal Suge Knight elements are used in the movie. "Vanilla Ice" hanging off of a balcony to sign over publishing rights. An imprisoned rapper, "Tupac" is bonded out of jail on a contract written on toilet paper. Similar elements as the original remain, Danny falling in love with Tony's kid sister, and a pissed off drug cartel. The ending sequence features an even more insane climactic battle, one reminiscent of the end of Leon---Cartel vs. Tony vs. LA SWAT. Daft Punk's soundtrack features work from the original movie, as well as elements from popular 90s hip hop songs. Score and Musical Arrangement by DAFT PUNK

(THE) RAIN MAN Suicane75 original Produced by STEVEN SPIELBERG Directed by QUENTIN TARANTINO Budget: $60 MILLION STEVE BUSCEMI as Raymond Babbit HUGH LAURIE as Charlie Babbit VIRGINIA MADSEN as Susanna MORGAN FREEMAN as Dr. Bruner JACK NICHOLSON as Mother at Farmouse Grittier version of the original in which Hugh Laurie plays Charlie Babbitt, an inveterate gambler, B Movie producer and low life. Virginia Madsen is his girlfriend, Susanna, an aging, never was starlet who works in Charlies films. Buscemis Raymond is not Autistic but rather a nearly catatonic victim of trauma surrounding an incident much like in the original that involved the hot water in the bath tub. His qualities as a savant will remain in place, not because of his condition but rather from natural learning. Morgan Freeman, playing the doctor will at one point convey to Charlie that Raymonds IQ has been tested at nearly 200. Charlie is unaware of Raymonds existence until the reading of the will. This part of the story, hatred of father, the trip East (Philadelphia instead of Cincinnati), the return to LA, will closely resemble the original. Buscemis dialog is extremely limited. He is very much a tortured soul. The Peoples Court is replaced with a Big Brother type show as Raymonds fixation, which annoys Charlie to no end because he's aware of how fake it is but can't seem to convey that to Raymond. The scenes that I've cast for are variations on the original film. Instead of walking in on Charlie and Susanna making love, Raymond will watch a movie in the hotel room that features Susanna, the kiss they share later in the film will be inspired by Raymonds acting out of that particular scene and will be the most dialog Buscemi has in any scene as he reenacts what he has seen in the movie. Nicholson was cast to replace the woman whose house Charlie & Raymond stop at in the original to watch The Peoples Court. Here Nicholson, a lonely old man, gives the brothers shelter when the car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. This is a rather important scene in my movie as Nicholson, gruff at first, imparts wisdom to Charlie despite having little empathy for the plight of Raymond, "What's wrong with him? Is he retarded"? As he waves his hand in front of Raymond. The remake will enhance the secondary characters met on the trip and give Tarantino a wide canvas with which to use his dialog and directing chops but the cruxt of the story will very much remain the same. Music from the Film EASY RIDER

BLADE RUNNER Chief Rum original Produced by ROB ZOMBIE Directed by CHRISTOPHER NOLAN Budget: $130 MILLION JAVIER BARDEM as Rick Deckard RYAN GOSLING as Roy Batty SUMMER GLAU as Pris EMILY BLUNT as Rachael This Movie has a MAJOR PLOT TWIST (**see below) In 2019, humans have genetically engineered Replicants, which are essentially humans who are designed for labor and entertainment purposes. They are illegal on earth, and if they make it to our planet they are to be hunted down and killed. Rick Deckard is a blade runner, or a hunter of replicants. A group of replicants make it to Los Angeles to seek out a way to extend their life span. Replicants have a built in 4 year life span, and this group is at the end. Although he hunts them to the end, the replicants end up teaching the detached Deckard what it really means to be human. **At the end of the movie, it will be revealed to the audience that, in this version of Blade Runner, the dominant race are androids, while the "replicants" are genetically engineered super humans. This will, of course, be a known fact to all characters within the movie, but we will keep this fact carefully hidden from the audience until the end of the movie (or close to the end). Score and Musical Arrangement by TRENT REZNOR/ATTICUS ROSS

[SackAttack]

*prepares to click*

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY Grover original Produced by ROBERT RODRIGUEZ Directed by CLINT EASTWOOD Budget: $60 MILLION BRAD PITT as Blondie DANIEL DAY-LEWIS as Angel Eyes BENICIO DEL TORO as Tuco JOHNNY DEPP as Alcoholic Union Captain Cinematography on this Film done by WALLY PFISTER Robert Rodriguez with an ambitious project to produce a film created by his idol Sergio Leone. Rodriguez has convinced Hollywood and spaghetti western icon Clint Eastwood to direct (one of) the film(s) that made him a superstar. Brad Pitt to play the role of the iconic 'Man With No Name' also known as 'Blondie' in the film. Pitt's versatility as an A-list actor and his work playing Jessie James in the film The Assassination of Jessie James by the Coward Robert Ford was the catalyst for Grover, Rodriguez and Eastwood offering him the role. Period piece specialist Daniel Day-Lewis has agreed to play 'The Bad' Angel Eyes, originally portrayed by western veteran Lee van Cleef. Angel Eyes is the bad guy that does evil with a warm smile on his face. Nobody excels as this type of villain like Daniel Day-Lewis does. Hollywood quirky-man Benicio Del Toro will fill the role of the somewhat comedic, somewhat pathetic, but always confident Tuco Ramirez. Del Toro has the quality, able to play the underhanded, hot-headed role that Eli Wallach mastered in the original. Name-calling, groveling, appeasing, and dirty tactics are all trick in Del Toro's book. In a lesser, but important role, Johnny Depp plays the Alcoholic Union Captain. A man who knows he's beaten in battle, but knows he must continue on regardless. He fills his men with beer, wine and whiskey before battle to get their spirits up even if he knows they are walking into certain death. Depp can play the desperate but confident Captain perfectly. Legendary composer Ennio Morricone returns to score the remake, as he did with the original. Nobody else could possibly fill his shoes. The original film has one of the most iconic and memorable film soundtracks of all time. It only makes sense that Morricone would compose again. Chris Nolan's chief cinematographer and 2010 Oscar Winner for shooting Inception, Wally Pfister, takes up this western epic, making a rare departure for Nolan's side. Pfister's vision and creativity will be massive for this film, with the number of dramatic and scenes between the three main characters. His cinematography will be able to capture the emotions of the characters, while also capturing the desert and small western settlements like nobody else could possibly do. Score and Musical Arrangement by ENNIO MORRICONE

THE STING ntndeacon original Produced by HARVEY WEINSTEIN Directed by STEVEN SODERBERGH Budget: $130 MILLION TOM HANKS as Henry Gondorf PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN as Lt. William Snyder JOSH BROLIN as Johnny Hooker SEAN PENN as Doyle Lonnegan Selected Songs from the Discography of SCOTT JOPLIN It will be pretty faithful to the original with minor changes in the set up and attacks from the hit men. Specifically there is an unsuccessful attempt at Gondorf and his woman friend. Penn will show an even darker side to Lonnegan’s character as he is shown using a golf club to bludgeon someone to death as he learns of the loss of his numbers money. There will again be heavy use of Scott Joplin music throughout, including the Entertainer. Howard Shore will create new music for several parts including Luther’s death and the end credits. Score and Musical Arrangement by HOWARD SHORE

FLASH GORDON tarcone original Produced by GEORGE LUCAS Directed by RIDLEY SCOTT Budget: $130 MILLION CHRIS EVANS as Flash KEIRA KNIGHTLEY as Dale Arden BRUCE WILLIS as Ming the Merciless SEAN CONNERY as Dr. Hans Zarkov Director of Special Effects ROBERT ZEMECKIS Flash Gordon is an American quarterback who is taken for a ride to the planet Mongo with his beautiful girlfriend Dale Arden, and is quickly taken in by the Emperor Ming the Merciless who seizes Dale and tries to execute Flash. However, Flash escapes and now must collect an army of strange beings to fight back this satanic emperor and rescue Dale as well as saving the Earth all at the same time. Score and Musical Arrangement by RANDY NEWMAN

THE GODFATHER larrymcg421 original Produced by FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA Directed by MARTIN SCORCESE Budget: $60 MILLION LEONARDO DICAPRIO as Michael Corleone ROBERT DE NIRO as Don Corleone MATT DAMON as Tom Hagen JEREMY RENNER as Sonny Corleone JAMES GANDOLFINI as Clemenza Coppola and Scorsese will collaborate on the story for the remake. It will be faithful to the original with some minor changes such as adding scenes in that appeared in future DVD releases - such as the two scenes implying Woltz is a pedophile and one where Vito dismisses Michael's military accomplishments as "Christmas ribbons", and the scene of a shocked Michael in bed after Appolonia's death. De Niro now gets to reprise a role that won him his first Oscar and show what he can do with the older version of Vito. The talent I have assembled accounts for 9 Oscars and 39 Oscar nominations. In addition, Gandolfini has 3 Emmy wins as Tony Soprano. De Niro and Dicaprio are Scorsese's common leading men from different eras and now he gets to use them both in the same film. Also, they've previously played father in son in This Boy's Life and further worked together in Marvin's Room. Composer Phillip Glass will keep most of Rota's original score intact, particularly the love theme, but will come up with some new compositions that complement the original well. Score and Musical Arrangement by PHILIP GLASS

JAWS NorvTurnerOverdrive original Produced by JAMES CAMERON Directed by THE COEN BROS. Budget: $250+ MILLION GEORGE CLOONEY as Chief Brody JEFF BRIDGES as Quint EDWARD NORTON as Matt Hooper ROBIN WRIGHT as Ellen Brody This Movie is Filmed in IMAX Will be tonally darker like the book but pay fair tribute to the original Coen favorites Clooney (The Perfect Storm) and Bridges (Sea Hunt) return Large budget to accommodate IMAX filming and lone failing of the original: poor sfx Standout traits of the original were character and conflict. Coen Bros. staples Cameron brings technical prowess in the water and experience with blockbusters John Williams' original score will be largely untouched Film's ending will be like the book's (It's a very Coen-esque ending) Score and Musical Arrangement by JOHN WILLIAMS

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

phew what an ordeal. multiple choice enabled in the poll. let me know if there's any dead links/weirdness


edit: had to change video size. loaded in safari. not in firefox. weird

[larrymcg421]

How many movies can someone vote for?

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

multiple (all of them i guess)

i can't imagine it'll be a problem though. and i like it better than the 5/3/1

[larrymcg421]

bump

[M GO BLUE!!!]

Flash Gordon is probably the only one that truly would have a shot at eclipsing the original.

[Grover]

AM bumpity bump. Don't worry about morning breath, I'll roll you over for this bump.

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

i really like the poll. i'm glad we went that direction.

all the movie posters (except ghostbusters) are from movieposterdb.com

i particularly like the scarface, blade runner, godfather and tgtbtu posters

[Johnny93g]

you guys have drafted some of my favourite actors, which pretty much means I'm watching them all.

I think the Sting has the potential to be the best though. Sean Penn as Doyle Lonnegan is probably the best casting decision in the draft for me.

Also, Sean Connery coming out of retirement is the only way I would ever watch any version of Flash Gordon. Great pick.

[Chief Rum]

This is amazingly hard to pick. There were some great setups here. I almost want to go with "what do I want to see", which is a natural way to go, except I fear that that intuition will be based on which if these movies are more my favorite movies or favorite type of movies. So then it becomes me picking movies based not on the choices made, but on my movie-going preference. That doesn't seem fair...

BTW, big, big, BIG time thumbs up to NTO for the hard work on the opening posts, especially on mine, since he got no help from my lazy (or RL busy, depending on perspective) ass on my project.

[WVUFAN]

I loved this idea, and watched with interest the entire draft thread. I thought I'd put my two cents in this.

GHOSTBUSTERS:
I LOVED the producer/director combo, especially if you have Whedon do the screenplay. Ghostbusters seems tailor made for Favreau and his kind of work.

Not sold on Rudd as Venkman. Maybe it's because I still see a certain kind of actor based on the original, but I just don't see Rudd's kind of humor working in this movie. Ryan Reynolds seems more of a fit.

Kunis as Janine? NOOOOOOOO!!!! I like her fine, but she's way too hollywood-pretty for this part. Tina Fey would be perfect.

I can deal with the rest of the cast, especially Oswalt as Ray. That's a good fit.

------------
LOGAN'S RUN:

If anyone can make this work, it's JJ Abrams and Joel Silver. I had my doubts about Franco, but his recent work makes me think he could handle this. Oldman would steal the show every scene he would be in.

Drafting ILM was a genius move, especially for a movie like this.

-------------

SCARFACE:

Great cast, good director and producer, although I'm thinking Stone should direct and Fincher should write/produce, since Stone wrote the Pacino version.

I just don't see how this would be successful with the material/changes.

Gibson would be a hinderance to the success of the film, with his recent issues, and there's something to be said to let the original reboot stand (The Pacino Scarface was a reboot itself, not an original), but given the right material (hense having Fincher or someone other than Stone write it would be important) it might work.

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RAIN MAN:

This one is one of the two I cringed at. Tarantino does very specific kinds of movies, and has never shown any interest of moving past that very specific kind of filmmaking. Rain Man is not his cup of tea, and I do not think a Tarantino-fied Rain Man would be very good at all.

That, and while Laurie could pull off Charlie, I just don't see Steve Buscemi as Raymond. I just don't see this working at all.


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BLADE RUNNER:

Rob Zombie? Really?

Really?

Christopher Nolan I can see. This would be perfect for him, but what does Rob Zombie bring to this?

The cast ... ehh. I see Jeffrey Dean Morgan more than Javier Bardem, as both have that rugged look about them, but Morgan is a better actor in this kind of role (see: Losers, Watchmen)

... ok, seriously, out of all the behind the scenes people you could have picked for producer, what made you say to yourself "I think Rob Zombie would be a great pick for Blade Runner"?


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THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY:

Easily one of my two favorite concepts. Perfect director, producer and principle cast.

Lewis is an inspired choice for Angel Eyes. Pitt would bring his own style to the Stranger, and Depp can ace any role you put in front of him.

Great, great concept. Someone in Hollywood should steal this and make it happen. I'd be there release day.


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THE STING

Soderbergh could pull this together, but Penn is horribly miscast as the heavy, and I just don't think Brolin could stay with the rest of the Oscar-winners in this cast.


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FLASH GORDON

Well ... if Lucas is heavily involved in the movie aside from just putting his name of the title, this would suck. Lucas just doesn't know what people actually want to watch. If he is just involved is very, VERY broad strokes and let's Scott and the cast do their thing, I could see this.

Willis as Ming? No. It also depends on how serious you want this to be. If you want the hokey "Flash! AH-HA" remade with modern SFX you have the wrong director too.

But, Willis cannot pull of Mind the Merciless. Ugh.


-------------
THE GODFATHER


One of the most overrated movies of our time being redone by one of the most overrated directors of our time, starring one of the most overrated movie stars (Dicaprio)?

I wouldn't watch it, but there's a bunch of people that would.

Switch Renner and DiCaprio's role, and you might have something.


--------------
JAWS

No.

NO NO NO NO. The Coen Brothers do not need within a million miles of Jaws. Firstly, they're not big-budget kind of directors.

James Cameron could do this if you have him direct it. Pick any number of other directors, and they could do this. Coen Brothers would massacre this movie. I don't care how good of a cast you have (and they are a great cast), the very PRESENCE of the Coens on a film like this makes my stomach turn.


My Vote: The Good, Bad and Ugly.

[Johnny93g]

Originally Posted by WVUFAN

THE GODFATHER

One of the most overrated movies of our time being redone by one of the most overrated directors of our time

[albionmoonlight]

Props to all. A ton of work went into this, and all 10 movies are something I would want to see.

I ended up voting for 6--not to slight the other 4, but so that the votes would mean something.

[stevew]

Good breakdown WVU.

I probably should have cast Alfred Molina instead of Gibson for theoretical box office. If you can separate the person from the hate speech, I think Gibson would absolutely nail the part of Frank.

[sterlingice]

Actually, I really appreciate WVUFan's notes and agree with a lot of them. I wanted to do a post like this but just don't have the time to put it together today. So we'll go with the quick notes:

Ghostbusters with a good combo at the top (and that's coming from someone who doesn't like Whedon most of the time) but the cast is quite a bit off to me. Is there anyone who can be 1980s Bill Murray out there? If not, can you remake Ghostbusters?

Logan's Run - I'm not sure anyone was looking to remake it. But if so, this seems pretty well put together. I don't know if it needs the $250M budget or if that pushes it into a giant blockbuster action movie rather than something more story driven. One of my top 3 on the list here.

I've never seen Scarface so I just don't know if this would work. I basically have to abstain on this one. Looks like a solid idea and execution but without any idea on the source material, no idea.

Rain Man - Buscemi, no- totally out of his league with that role. Tarantino's not a good fit. If you have Spielberg, use him to direct this and pick a different producer. Laurie, yes. And if you're going to get Nicholson, use a picture that better utilizes him. I see good pieces that could make a movie together: Spielberg, Laurie, Nicholson, Freeman- you could make one big serious movie but when you slam that together with Tarantino and Buscemi, it's like Schindler's List meets Reservoir Dogs.

Blade Runner - With Christopher Nolan, yes. But I don't see the cast at all. Bardem seems like a real reach in round 2 tho I'm not sure who I'd want for Deckard now: maybe Bruce Willis who went a lot later. Trent Reznor in 4? Could have beefed up the cast or maybe producer with those two picks

The Sting seems like it would be remade as Oceans 11, sort of. I can see it. Hanks, yes. The rest of the cast: I would have liked another heavyweight in there as I think the rest of the cast are all more character actors who don't chew scenery the way it needs to be in the way Clooney and Pitt did in Oceans 11.

Flash Gordon - I don't know how to grade this one. I don't think the world wants any more Flash Gordon. But Chris Evans basically reprises his role as Captain America and Keira Knightley works well as Dale. Bruce Willis as Ming just has me flashing to images of Dennis Hopper in Waterworld- not good. I don't think Ridley Scott would want to touch this with a 10' pole. He won't be able to do the cheesiness if you go that route and I don't think you can do Flash Gordon as a serious movie.

The Godfather is long and slow and Scorcese does love to drag scenes out to their longest possible element. Seems like a good match, actually. However, it's a movie that no one would watch nowadays because no one in the US has 70s attention spans and they would slaughter it for being derivative and not good enough to be the original. There's a ton of star power but is there enough scenery for all of them to chew?

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly - Producer/director combo sounds right. Feels a little off but sounds right. Hell, I like all of the cast (tho Depp seems underutilized- kindof a "hey, he's still on the board so I might as well use him" pick). This is a hard movie to do- a slow moving 70s movie and what I said about The Godfather plot applies here.

Jaws - I thought when I saw "Jaws" and $250M right off the bat that it would be a horrible go since it really doesn't need to be remade. But with the casting, you got some great "bargains" who fit pretty well. But it should be Cameron directing. In fact, I like pretty much everything you've done here except for the Coen Bros (and the name Robin Wright only sounds vaguely familiar). However, that almost sinks the movie right there.

The three I like the best: Logan's Run; The Sting, The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.

I like the two different approaches. I think Hollywood is more like the "pick the best actors available who will do your script and fill in what you can around them" where you draft best talent available. However, the "I had this in mind from the start" crowd is really interesting and those pictures have a more personal touch to them.

SI

[wade moore]

On the criticisms of Ghostbusters casting, and Rudd in particular...

You can't redo Ghosbusters by copying it. You need to give it its own feel, etc. So don't view, for instance, Rudd as trying to be a "copy" of Murray.. which is what a casting of Ryan Reynolds would be a go at imo.

[tarcone]

I admit that I stretched with Willis. I went name. I was seriously thinking of Christian Berkel. But I went with what I thought the crowd would want.

[molson]

Ya, I think Rudd would bring a different, modern take to Ghostbusters, that could work really well. Patton Oswalt gives it a B-level feel though, he's too old and unsuccessful to get anyone too excited there, but I like Rudd as the anchor of that cast, maybe with a couple of upstarts or bigger names with him. I kind of like the creative use of Nicholson in Rain Man too, that could be a memorable scene if it was really expanded.

I'll have to review these more after work, so I hope the voting stays open for a while, there's a lot to digest.

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

poll's open till thursday @8 pm

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

BTW, big, big, BIG time thumbs up to NTO for the hard work on the opening posts, especially on mine, since he got no help from my lazy (or RL busy, depending on perspective) ass on my project.

you're quite welcome. once i had the template it was pretty easy. it's just this mb and html don't always play nice.

the fun in these things is the draft. once that's over the voting is just a novelty. i thought by giving people something tangible and interactive you could maintain interest throughout. it's no longer in your imagination and a bunch of text it's kind of a quasi imdb page.

the poll is great. 24 hours in and nobody's out of it yet.

and wade, i've come full circle on your picks and it's now probably one of my favorites.

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

(and the name Robin Wright only sounds vaguely familiar).

she's probably better known for being married to sean penn. but she's been in a couple things like moneyball, the girl with the dragon tattoo, the princess bride and a little independent film called... forrest gump

come on!!! :gob bluth:

[Danny]

I'll say this after a quicker look at the rosters. Anyone who did not support their film / cast with a proper budget has no chance to get one of my votes. The clearest example is the scarface and godfather remake who if they somehow managed to get that cast in for 60 million, has no budget left whatsoever. In general, I am looking for something realistic and not simply big names for everything.

[stevew]

Budget did not include actors salary

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

the ides of march had an all star cast and was made for 12 mil.

not that budget should be discounted but the idea is that some of the big name actors would waive their typical fee for the chance to work with such visionary executive producers

[Raiders Army]

Ghostbusters FTW.

[WVUFAN]

Originally Posted by stevew

Good breakdown WVU.

I probably should have cast Alfred Molina instead of Gibson for theoretical box office. If you can separate the person from the hate speech, I think Gibson would absolutely nail the part of Frank.

Oh, I absolutely agree -- I think Mel Gibson is one hell of an actor, and he's apologized for what he said while drunk, but for some reason, many people have it out for him.

Molina would work, too.

I stand my what I said about the Godfather. It's a good film, not the film everyone makes it out to be, and it's about a half hour too long. The impact the movie had on other films can't be discounted, though.

Not a fan of Martin Scorcese. His movies just don't do it for me. The Departed was probably my favorite of the bunch.

[kcchief19]

Very interesting concept for a draft. Looks like it would have been a lot of fun.

I picked, in no particularly order, Ghostbusters; Logan's Run; and The Good, Bad and the Ugly. Generally I just liked the combination of film, director/producer and talent. Maybe a few quibbles here and there with cast, but overall I would want to see these movies.

Scarface and The Godfather get dinged by me for the reason that it would be nearly impossible to improve these films to the satisfaction of viewers. maybe Scarface is a bit less ubiquitous and could pull it off. But I think most movie fans wouldn't be impressed by the remake.

The others get dinged by me for a fatal flaw. At first I though Hugh Laurie might be an inspired choice for Rain Man, but the more I think about it the more I think it would be funny, not serious. And Tarantino directing? Unless the film ends with Rain Man gunning down Charlie, wrong choice.

I have concerns about remaking The Sting as well, but the cast is my problem here. Hanks and Brolin are too old and lack the charms for those roles. Flash Gordon is just a poor choice for a remake, and as much as I love Lucas, we all know he would ruin it. Jaws is not a bad idea, I just don't think that project would be as good as the sum of its parts suggest.

Very cool ideas to everyone -- fun to read!

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

i love scorcese. i've seen goodfellas a million times but watched it again this weekend and saw a couple things i'd never noticed

1. @ the beginning of the movie when young henry hill is delivering sandwiches he limps (foreshadowing spider)

2. when the babysitter returns from her first delivery henry knocks the hat off her head. foreshadowing the, 'i can't find my hat. i won't go without it." scene

that said, kubrick called the godfather a perfect movie. and this is a guy who'd shoot 60 takes of someone crossing the street.

i'd rather larry cribbed the story and do it about the irish, or the russians or about the good ol boy network in texas (like the stephen root character in no country for old men)

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by WVUFAN

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RAIN MAN:

This one is one of the two I cringed at. Tarantino does very specific kinds of movies, and has never shown any interest of moving past that very specific kind of filmmaking. Rain Man is not his cup of tea, and I do not think a Tarantino-fied Rain Man would be very good at all.

That, and while Laurie could pull off Charlie, I just don't see Steve Buscemi as Raymond. I just don't see this working at all.

Agreed. Funny thing is, I saw the actors first without looking at their roles. I figured Buscemi would play Charlie and Laurie would play Raymond. I think I actually like that idea better.

[Danny]

Originally Posted by stevew

Budget did not include actors salary

ah ok did not know that.

[Suicane75]

I'll be honest here, I think I killed my movie with my production notes. I tried to get to cute in remaking it with new twists and crap, even I don't like most of the shit I wrote. But I stand by the cast and my general vision of it, there's a reason I'm not in Hollywood.

That being said, everyone who keeps bringing up it not being a Tarantino film and talking about blood and guts and all that shit, watch the opening scene in Inglorious Bastards. Nothing happens for a long fucking time in that scene and it's beyond intense. The entire time I was plotting out my movie I kept thinking about that scene and how brilliantly he can just let actors act and set an air to a scene. Just because he makes a certain kind of film doesn't mean he can't and hasn't shown an ability far beyond bullets and swear words. Dude is a master filmmaker, and it's got nothing to do the style he prefers.

Ok, got that off my chest.

[stevew]

The bar scene was an eexcellent slow burn

[tarcone]

I chose Flash Gordon because I love that movie and would love to see re-made. What a great film that was. Light and airy. Fun and dramatic.

Sure, I could have picked one of the blockbusters these guys did. But I went with something that was not a blockbuster but well done. I wanted to see how much better I could do it.

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

i like the idea of re-imagination more than beat for beat remakes. the first rain man was light hearted and schmaltzy so i definitely like the idea of a darker remake with tarantino.

problem is spielberg at this point in his career is the king of schmaltz. not saying they couldn't work together (i think tarantino has great reverence for him) it just gets points knocked off.

for my money i would have liked pt anderson or alexander payne or maybe even terrance malick. but you know what they say about opinions

edit: or spike jonze. he'd be perfect. think: adaptation (film)

[larrymcg421]

Normally in these drafts I play it really safe and that's really worked for me in the past. I wanted to do something a little riskier this time, so I'm not surprised at the results so far, although I was hoping for better.

I did it as a straight remake because the idea was to have great actors try out iconic roles, especially De Niro finally getting the chance to play the older Vito.

Also, I don't see why a remake has to be better than the original. I could remake Gigli and make it better than the original, and it still would be worse than a remake of a classic film that wasn't quite as good as the original. My goal was not to surpass the original Godfather, but to come up with something that would be fascinating and compelling to watch.

[sabotai]

Ghostbusters - Oswalt as Louis would have been better casting. With the limited casting options, I thought the role of Ray could have gone uncasted. Not that Dan Aykroyd wasn't great in the original, but it's not a demanding role and not one that requires a certain fit, like the role of Louis. Seeing Patton Oswalt chase after Tiffani Amber Thiessen would be pretty funny. As Ray, I just don't see it. Maybe is Oswalt was Venkman and Raul Rudd as Ray....

Logan's Run - I love the casting except for Mark Ruffalo. JJ Abrams absolutely bombed in his remake of Star Trek. It was so terrible that I wouldn't want him anywhere near this project.

Scarface - Denzel Washington as Tony? Next...

Rain Man - After reading the notes, I think Buscemi would be fine for the reimagined role. Tarantino and Speilberg, though? I don't know if that combination would come out well. Plus, Tarantino is an odd choice to direct this type of movie.

Blade Runner - Love the combination of Zombie, Nolan and the music of Trent Reznor. Haven't seen the original, but the names attached, the cast and the plot points all combine to make a movie I really want to see.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - Rodriguez and Eastwood, another combination that sound weird and I'm not sure what would come out of it. I never saw the original, but I get an uneasy feeling thinking about Brad Pitt being put in a role originally played by Clint Eastwood.

The Sting - Another one I have not seen, but I like the cast. Can't ever seem to go wrong with Tom Hanks or Philip Seymour Hoffman, though.

Flash Gordon - Can you really take someone who is best (only?) known for one superhero and cast him as another hero archetype? Also, Lucas as producer? Ugh, no.

The Godfather - LOL, you can't remake the Godfather!! Plus, Leo can't pull off the role of Michael. I'm also not feeling Matt Damon as Tom Hagen. James Gandofini is perfect for Clemenza, and De Niro as Don Corleone would be interesting. But I don't see any of the cast doing a better job than the original cast, and the Godfather is one of the few movies that I would score 10/10.

Jaws - George Clooney as Chief Brody would be fucking hilarious, but I don't see much of a fit with the rest of the cast.


My vote: After reading the notes, comparing the cast and the names attached for producer and director, the only movie that has be standing in line to see at the theater as opposed to just waiting for the DVD is Blade Runner.

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

Normally in these drafts I play it really safe and that's really worked for me in the past. I wanted to do something a little riskier this time, so I'm not surprised at the results so far, although I was hoping for better.

I did it as a straight remake because the idea was to have great actors try out iconic roles, especially De Niro finally getting the chance to play the older Vito.

Also, I don't see why a remake has to be better than the original. I could remake Gigli and make it better than the original, and it still would be worse than a remake of a classic film that wasn't quite as good as the original. My goal was not to surpass the original Godfather, but to come up with something that would be fascinating and compelling to watch.

yeah, that's why i thought the idea was fascinating. would people try to find imperfect movies that could be improved upon or would they just update classics?

except for tarcone (and maybe jedi and sui) everyone went the classic route. which has its detractors.

conversely, you could have a brilliant idea for a shitty movie and the perception would still be that it's a shitty movie.

[Subby]

So funny. JJ Abrams' Star Trek was one of my all time faves.

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

oooh we got a tight race. it's ghostbusters by a nose over tgtbtu and by a neck over blade runner with a tight pack still within striking distance. this is gonna be interesting.

big thanks to all that voted. participation has been awesome

[wade moore]

Yeah... No offense sab, but I'd you thought star trek was terrible I'm really not bothered by you not liking my casting .

[sterlingice]

Oh, I want to reiterate, NTO: Great job with the writeups. I had a passing interest in the draft. However, when it gets 3 or 4 much less 10+ pages deep, you lose interest if you're not posting. However, this presentation style made me go "Hey, this was a good thread idea and now I can read the Cliff's Notes version".

SI

[cadmus2166]

The Good, Bad, and the Ugly would never get that cast on a budget for $60M. Voted Scarface.

[wade moore]

And to NTO..

tbh, when you changed the voting method I was a bit peeved.

But it has had a dramatic increase in participation, so now I'm all for it .

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

thanks si. i'm a huge dork with ocd which i think is the peanut butter and jelly to doing these things right.

and i'm tickled there's no clear cut winner. makes the voting thread that much more exciting.

(and wade, i take half the credit for your success because without a picture i'm confident 90% of the board wouldn't know who richard ayoade was)

[WVUFAN]

Originally Posted by cadmus2166

The Good, Bad, and the Ugly would never get that cast on a budget for $60M. Voted Scarface.

Salaries are not included in the budget, and all the cast of that film have done "low budget" films before.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by NorvTurnerOverdrive

thanks si. i'm a huge dork with ocd which i think is the peanut butter and jelly to doing these things right.

and i'm tickled there's no clear cut winner. makes the voting thread that much more exciting.

(and wade, i take half the credit for your success because without a picture i'm confident 90% of the board wouldn't know who richard ayoade was)

FWIW - I had pictures ready, but then you posted so I didn't worry about it .

[Coffee Warlord]

As impressed as I've become with DiCaprio the last few years...I just can't see him doing Michael. Matt Damon as Tom just doesn't do it for me either, honestly. Were this my studio, I'd actually tap Christian Bale for Mikey.

I LOVE DeNiro and Gandolfini's casting, however.

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

Originally Posted by wade moore

FWIW - I had pictures ready, but then you posted so I didn't worry about it .

yeah yeah. be nice to me. if there's a tie i'm the deciding vote

[Grover]

Originally Posted by cadmus2166

The Good, Bad, and the Ugly would never get that cast on a budget for $60M. Voted Scarface.

Ouch.

I guess Tombstone never got that cast on a budget for $25M.

Wait a minute... !